Vikings center Garrett Bradbury is in the midst of a career year in his fourth season, but that's been interrupted by a tricky lower back injury. He's missed the last two games due to the injury and suffered a bit of a setback when he tweaked his back in a car accident following Saturday's game.
It was a minor accident that was caused by another driver sliding on an icy road, Bradbury told reporters on Tuesday. Everyone involved is fine, but Bradbury's back tightened up on him a bit. He's still working closely with the Vikings' medical staff and is taking things day by day ahead of Saturday's game against the Giants.
Kevin O'Connell gave the Vikings Sunday and Monday off after their marathon comeback victory over the Colts. Bradbury was the only player who didn't participate in Tuesday's walk-through practice. Linebackers Eric Kendricks (hip) and Brian Asamoah (ankle) were limited.
On Monday, O'Connell was asked about the possibility of getting Bradbury back against the Giants and gave a fairly non-committal answer.
"We’ll see how he does," O'Connell said. "It’s really just been a matter of the unique nature of lower back injuries. Sometimes it’s hard to really predict, but I know he’s doing everything in his power to try to get back and hopefully, it’ll be a bonus for us when we can get him back in there. I thought Austin Schlottmann played a really good game filling in for Garrett the other day."
Schlottmann, who was signed by the Vikings this offseason after four seasons with the Broncos, has done an adequate job over the past two weeks — but he's a clear downgrade from Bradbury. He's given up 9 pressures in those two games and isn't nearly the same caliber of athlete as Bradbury, which limits what he can do in the running game.
It seems like Bradbury may not be ready to play on Saturday, which would mean Schlottmann makes a third consecutive start. However, practice reports on Wednesday and Thursday will shed more light on Bradbury's chances.
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